The Sway by Amy Patrick

Author:Amy Patrick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Teen & Young Adult, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Myths & Legends, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Paranormal & Urban
Publisher: Oxford South Press
Published: 2015-06-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Watched

“So how does it feel to break the rules for once?” Ava stands in the doorway of the guest room, obviously having overheard the end of my phone call with Pappa.

“Um, it feels like I’m going to be on total lockdown for the rest of spring break.”

The driver apparently waited for an hour before calling Alfred to report my unscheduled exploration. The agent, in turn, called my father, who just gave me an earful.

“No more going off on your own. You might think you know about big cities, but Los Angeles is not Atlanta, and you have no idea the trouble you can find there. You’ve been quite sheltered,” he said.

Yeah, whose fault is that? That’s what I wanted to say. Thankfully, he could only hear my thoughts when I consciously directed them at him. What I actually said was, “Yes, Pappa.”

“So, did you sneak off with a boy?” Ava says, dragging out the last word and grinning ear to ear like she’s waiting to be let in on some great conspiracy.

“No. I took a walk... to a school.” I wasn’t really planning to tell her that last part, but it popped out anyway. Maybe my excitement over the art school is too big to stay penned up inside me.

“A school?” She wrinkles her nose. “That’s a letdown. When I sneak away, I make sure it’s worth my while. Which means, of course, it’s to meet a guy.”

We laugh together, and I decide to confide in her a bit more. “It was actually worth my while. I loved the school. I just hope I can get in—it’s really late to apply.”

“Oh.” She nods. “So you want to come to college in California?”

“Sort of. It’s an art school. But please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want my dad to know. It doesn’t exactly fit into his plan for my life.”

She matches my eye roll with one of her own. “Tell me about it. My parents’ plan involves bonding me with a guy back in Florida. But I can’t get enough of these California boys. It’s Mother’s fault really. She shouldn’t have sent me out here if she didn’t want me to sample the local goods.”

“Well, unfortunately, that was probably my first and only ‘field trip.’ I know they’re going to watch me every second now.”

“There’s always a way,” Ava says. “If you need to get away again, just tell me and I’ll help.”

* * *

A messenger delivers my modeling portfolio from Stephen early the next morning. He is some kind of incredible photographer because the photos aren’t half bad. I don’t even recognize myself in one of them.

The driver arrives to take me on my go-sees. The first is with a clothing designer who makes funky things in loud patterns that all seem to involve polka-dots. She looks like someone who’d design crazy circus clothes—bright pink hair, too much makeup, and glasses with giant frames—polka dot, of course.

She says I look young, which she likes. At her request, I do some impromptu posing, which she doesn’t seem to like.

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